More than three years since the 2020 Environmental Protection Law came into force, under the leadership and direction of the City Party Committee and People’s Council, as well as the attention and active support of relevant ministries and agencies, Hai Phong City has seen many positive changes in environmental management and protection. Synchronous policies and solutions have initially curbed the increase in pollution; the condition of soil, water, and air environments has gradually improved, contributing to enhancing the quality of living environments and promoting sustainable development. However, during implementation, the city has also faced numerous challenges that need to be addressed to achieve green development and a circular economy.
Achievements
To meet the requirements of environmental protection tasks, the municipal People’s Committee has issued various directives instructing departments, sectors, and localities to fulfill their functions and tasks in environmental management and protection, particularly the implementation of the 2020 Environmental Protection Law and its guiding documents. The city has issued and implemented 19 plans, schemes, and 3 decisions to enforce the Environmental Protection Law 2020 and the National Environmental Protection Strategy.
Public communication, legal dissemination, and environmental law education have been actively promoted through various forms targeting diverse audiences. Investments in environmental protection infrastructure for industrial parks, industrial clusters, and production and business establishments have been prioritized. Environmental indicators in urban and rural areas have significantly improved. Administrative procedures have been reformed in conjunction with digital transformation efforts. Inspections, complaint and denunciation resolution, and handling of environmental petitions have been strengthened, with violations promptly detected and addressed according to the law. Public awareness and compliance with environmental laws among organizations, individuals, and communities have steadily improved.
Hai Phong has achieved significant results across the three pillars of sustainable development: economy, society, and environment. The city's GRDP growth rate in 2024 exceeded 11%, although slightly below target, marking the tenth consecutive year of double-digit growth and affirming Hai Phong’s sustainable development and its role as a growth driver in the Red River Delta amid the national context. Achievements in social and environmental indicators demonstrate the city’s ongoing efforts to protect the environment, promote sustainability, and improve citizens’ quality of life.
From 2021 to 2024, Hai Phong mobilized over VND 3,044 billion for environmental protection activities, with 97.3% (about VND 2,692 billion) sourced from the local budget. The proportion of spending on environmental activities relative to the total local budget has always reached at least 1%, peaking at 1.4% in 2021.
The state environmental management apparatus has been streamlined from the city to grassroots level. At the city level, the Department of Agriculture and Environment’s Environmental Management Division has 17 civil servants. Districts have 174 positions, while communes have 367 officials responsible for land administration, construction, and environment. The Hai Phong Economic Zone Authority has six specialized environmental officers.
The City Environmental Protection Fund manages nearly VND 46 billion in environmental restoration deposits from mineral mining projects and has more than VND 25 billion in operational capital, supporting environmental protection projects.
Regarding administrative procedures, from 2022 to 2024, the city issued two decisions announcing administrative procedures in the environmental sector. There are currently 14 environmental administrative procedures under the city’s jurisdiction (including 8 at the provincial level, 4 at district level, and 2 at commune level), all at level 3 or higher. The decentralization of administrative procedures has been appropriate and practical, reducing intermediate steps and costs for citizens and businesses. As of March 1, 2025, the city approved 166 decisions on environmental impact assessment reports and issued 347 environmental permits for projects under its authority (including those delegated to the Economic Zone Authority). All cases have been handled per announced procedures, ensuring transparency, no overdue files, and no complaints from investors or businesses. District-level authorities have issued nearly 506 environmental permits.
The city has planned 17 industrial parks (IPs), with 14 IPs covering 6,101.95 hectares—11 in operation and 3 (DeepC 3, Xuan Cau, Tien Thanh) not yet operational. The city is focusing on developing 20 new IPs totaling over 7,000 hectares. Active IPs have an average occupancy rate of 64.3% and an investment density of about USD 12 million per hectare. The infrastructure of these IPs is largely complete. Two IPs—Nam Cau Kien and Dinh Vu—are transitioning from traditional to eco-industrial park models, participating in the “Scaling up Eco-Industrial Park Approaches to Promote Circular Economy in Vietnam (Phase 2)” project implemented by UNIDO and the Ministry of Planning and Investment (per Decision No. 1737/QD-BKHDT dated 13 August 2024). All IPs maintain 100% compliance with environmental protection infrastructure requirements, including centralized wastewater treatment systems as prescribed.
Challenges and Limitations
Despite notable achievements, Hai Phong faces many ongoing challenges in implementing environmental policies and laws. The city’s geographical location at the lower reaches of the Red River and Thai Binh River means it receives upstream waste discharges and suffers from climate change impacts, sea-level rise, and saltwater intrusion, contributing to surface water pollution. Upstream water use lacks focus on ensuring downstream quality, and water resource management practices are not uniformly modernized or adapted to specific river basins.
Rapid socio-economic development, especially in industry, services, and urbanization, places great pressure on land, minerals, the environment, and state management. Much environmental infrastructure, such as water supply and drainage, is degraded and in need of urgent upgrading. Some businesses within residential areas still use outdated, energy-intensive technologies, generating large volumes of waste and burdening environmental infrastructure.
Awareness of environmental protection and green economic development among some officials and citizens remains limited, with gaps between awareness and action. Economic growth is sometimes prioritized over environmental protection. Solid waste management faces difficulties due to high costs and limited local budgets, while changing laws on bidding and investor selection for waste treatment projects complicate implementation.
Environmental inspections and monitoring lack procedures, technical guidelines, and equipment; violation detection tools are inadequate, and a complete database for administrative violation management is absent. Central-level policies on carbon market financing, EV standards, and solid waste management guidelines have been slow to issue, hindering local implementation.